FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

February 2021

PROGRAM

DISCRIMINATION

COMPLAINTS

RECEIPT

AND 

PROCESSING

APHIS

OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS, 

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION 

(OCRDI)

OCRDI Website

FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 

October 2008

POINT OF CONTACT

If you have any questions regarding 

program discrimination complaint 

processing, please contact:

Rhonda Chase

Branch Chief

Compliance and Evaluation Branch

USDA/APHIS/OCRDI

Voice: (301)-851-4207

Email: Rhonda.Chase@usda.gov

Office of Civil Rights, Diversity, and 

Inclusion (OCRDI)

Mission Statement

To provide leadership, direction, coordination, 

evaluation, and support to the Civil Rights efforts 

of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service; to implement and monitor our Agency's 

progress in achieving established policies and 

objectives; and to integrate Civil Rights into the 

APHIS management, evaluation and information 

systems and processes relative to 

nondiscrimination in Employment and Program 

Delivery.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

prohibits discrimination in all its programs and 

activities on the basis of race, color, national 

origin, gender, religion, age, disability, 

political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital 

or family status. (Not all prohibited bases 

apply to all programs.) Persons with 

disabilities who require alternative means for 

communication of program information

(Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should 

contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 

720-2600 (voice and TDD).
PURPOSE

Ensure that APHIS and its recipients are in 

compliance with DR 4330-2 and 4330-3. 

Complaints against APHIS/recipient 

personnel or programs alleging or inferring 

discrimination or unfair treatment in program 

delivery or activity must be forwarded to the 

ASCR for processing. 

INSTRUCTIONS

If a person indicates that he or she wishes

to file a complaint, APHIS employees must

advise him or her to contact ASCR. The

following website page contains contact

information for OASCR and instructions on

how to file program complaint:

How to File a

Program Discrimination Complaint

This information is also on USDA’s “And 

Justice for All” poster Form AD-475C which 

instructs the public on how to file a program 

complaint in English and Spanish. All APHIS 

facilities must prominently display this poster

And Justice for All Poster

BACKGROUND

Program discrimination complaints are

defined as those complaints filed by

persons (non-employee), organizations or

companies who, based on being a member

of a protected class, allege discrimination in

a program or activity conducted or assisted

by APHIS.

USDA Departmental Regulations (DR)

4330-2 and 4330-3 provide that all program

complaints of discrimination against USDA

agencies and/or their recipients must be

forwarded to USDA’s Office of the Assistant

Secretary for Civil Rights (OASCR) within 5

days of their receipt by the agency.

OASCR will determine whether the

complaint will be formally accepted.

If any APHIS employee receives a

written complaint, that complaint should

be forwarded to OCRDI for review.

Please note that ASCR is the office

responsible for formally processing the

complaint, so any inquiries or

discussions regarding that complaint

should be between the complainant

and ASCR, not APHIS personnel.

You must continue to provide the

complainant with whatever program

services he or she would normally be

entitled to from our agency. After

reviewing the complaint, OCRDI

requests that you provide our office

with a status report, so we recommend

that you complete an incident report or

record of the circumstances of the

complaint as soon as possible after the

complaint is made. Due to the wide

geographic locations of our work sites,

and the 5-day forwarding requirement,

please immediately forward (email

preferred) any program discrimination

complaints to:

USDA/APHIS/OCRDI

Attn: Rhonda Chase

Branch Chief

Compliance and Evaluation Branch

4700 River Road, Unit 92, Riverdale, 

MD 20737

Telephone Number: (301)-851-4207

Email: 

Rhonda.Chase@usda.gov